


Don't Look Back

by Rehearsal_Dweller



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: I am so sorry, M/M, Spoilers for House of Hades
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-10-10
Updated: 2013-10-10
Packaged: 2017-12-28 23:36:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 786
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/998262
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rehearsal_Dweller/pseuds/Rehearsal_Dweller
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>True to his word, Nico left after he brought Reyna to Camp.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Don't Look Back

**Author's Note:**

> Again, I am so, so sorry.  
> Nico has shattered my heart into a million tiny pieces.

True to his word, Nico didn’t come back after he’d taken Reyna to Camp.

He planned to disappear – it wouldn’t have been too difficult, not really. He could make it so none of them would ever find him again. Maybe hiding was the coward’s way out, but… he couldn’t face the alternative.

He just had one stop to make before he left.

For a moment, he almost didn’t knock. Just stared at the door for a full three minutes. Then he finally pulled himself together and knocked once.

The door opened almost immediately.

“Miss Sally?”

“Nico!” Percy’s mother exclaimed. “Come inside! You look like death warmed over! What are you doing here?”

In an instant, Nico had been swept inside. Sally wrapped Nico in a blanket that he hadn’t seen her grab and guided him to the couch.

“Stay here, I’ll go grab you something to eat. You’re skin and bones,” Sally said.

“No, Miss Sally, I can’t stay,” Nico insisted, but he was ignored.

A few minutes later, she’d forced a sandwich into his hands and set a bottle of blue soda on the table next to him.

“So, Nico, what brings you here?” asked Sally.

“I- I just wanted to tell you – Percy’s okay. I don’t know what’s going to happen from here on out, but he and – and Annabeth are safe for now. I know you’ve been kind of out of the loop,” Nico answered.

Sally didn’t answer right away. She stared at Nico for a minute, trying to find words. “Thank you, Nico. I’ve been so worried.”

“I figured,” Nico mumbled. He stood up. “Good-bye, Miss Sally. Thanks for the sandwich.”

“Where are you going?”

Nico shrugged. “I dunno. Somewhere else.”

“Not back to Camp?” persisted Sally.

“No,” said Nico, shaking his head. “There’s enough going on there without me getting mixed up in everything. Everybody there hates me; I’d be a distraction.”

Nico winced when he realised what he’d said. Sally pulled him back down onto the couch. “You can’t just run away, Nico.”

“I can and I will,” Nico replied. “They don’t need me around anymore, and I need the space.”

“Oh, Nico,” Sally said quietly. “What happened to you?”

“Nothing,” said Nico. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“ _Nico di Angelo_ , you tell me the truth,” Sally ordered in her most convincing mom voice.

“I – when we were on our way to Greece, Jason – one of the Romans – and I had to talk to Cupid, and…” Nico faltered.

“Say no more,” Sally said. She pulled Nico into a hug and pressed a gentle kiss to his forehead. “First love is always tough.”

Nico forced a laugh. “You’re telling me.” He wriggled away from her. “Really, though, Miss Sally. I need to go.”

“Fine,” said Sally. “But don’t disappear forever. If for no other reason than that Percy will miss you if you do.”

Nico flinched, as if he’d received a physical blow. “We’ll see. Good-bye, Miss Sally.”

When he reached the doorway, he turned. “When you see Percy again, could you tell him good-bye for me?”

Sally nodded, teary eyed. “Good-bye, Nico. Good luck.”

–

He did his best to stay away, after that. He kept half an eye on what was going on through the end of the war –  _in case they need me_ , he told himself, but he knew it wasn’t quite true – and after it was all over he stayed away.

And then one day, Nico got an Iris Message.

“Nico? Nico! Where  _are_  you, man? I’ve been trying to get hold of you for ages!” Percy said. “My mom said that you stopped by after the House of Hades thing and then nobody’s heard from you since!”

“I, uh, I just needed to get away for a while,” replied Nico.

“Jason keeps saying you probably just wanted some space, but I didn’t really listen. I mean, when exactly did you get close to  _Jason_?”

“Ask  _him_.”

“I’m asking you! He won’t say, anyway. Piper’s been trying to get it out of him for weeks.”

“He’s loyal, then. Great. Look, Percy, I can’t really talk now.”  _Or ever_ , he added mentally.  _The longer we talk, the harder it is to stay away._

“Oh.” Percy seemed disappointed. “Well, uh, when you get a chance, you should visit. I, uh – we miss having you around.”

Nico laughed. “If by ‘we’ you mean Hazel -”

“And me!” Percy interrupted. “And, uh, Jason! And Frank!”

“ _Right_. Very convincing, Percy.”

“I’m serious.”

“Sure. Now, I’ve really got to go.”  _Otherwise I might actually take you up on that. And we all know how well that would go_. He chuckled to himself.  _Well, you don’t_.

“Fine, fine. See you around, Nico.”

“Good-bye, Percy.”


End file.
